They stood there in silence for a long moment. Eventually, Kaitlyn looked up to find Elliot staring at her, his eyebrows raised. "You think this is your fault… why?"

  She grimaced, averting her gaze once more. "I… you know why the Dream Lizards have been popping off, right?"

  "Aside from our natural talent?" He quirked a smile. "Not really. I've heard that it's going crazy on social media, but…"

  "Yeah, something like that." She nodded. "In particular, there's one page that's been doing pretty well at getting you guys out there. A page that I, uh… may have made?"

  His brow furrowed. Quickly, Kaitlyn continued on. "I didn't do it as some weird fan-stalker thing, I promise. It's not like that. It's just… well, you're always talking about how everyone has an angle. How they all want something from you. Even Esme brought up how you always think people are just trying to cozy up to you for selfish reasons. Which… I mean, I guess that makes sense. But I didn't want to do that.

  "I just… I just figured that, maybe, I could do something to help you out. Make the band a little more successful, you know? You're already good on the classes and lab fronts, so it's all I could really think of…"

  Elliot's eyes narrowed. "You were recording at the concert… I see."

  "Yeah," she shoved her hands deeper in her pockets. "I thought that maybe, just maybe, this would be the way I could help. That I could actually do something for you, since it doesn't seem like people do that a lot. Even if… I really didn't mean for it to go this far."

  Elliot went quiet, digesting her words. Kaitlyn simply waited. She had kind of unloaded on him a bit, and it wasn't exactly clear how he'd take it. All she could do was hope for the best.

  Eventually, the guy let out a long sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning back against the fence wordlessly. "Kate…"

  She winced. It took a lot of willpower not to reflexively apologize. "Are you… mad?"

  "Mad? I'm not mad. Just… annoyed. Frustrated." He rubbed his face. "I get that you were trying to help, sure. But you should have said something, at least."

  "But I didn't want to make you feel like you owed me anything," she protested. "Heck, I wasn't even sure about telling you I made the page. I mean, that kind of felt like it defeated the whole point. But since it backfired…"

  Elliot nodded. "Yeah. I probably would have thought that, to be honest. But then, why do it in the first place? What's the point?"

  "Just… to help, I guess." Kaitlyn finished lamely. "I dunno. In hindsight, it maybe wasn't the most well thought out plan. But it was the only thing I could think of."

  The ginger let out another long sigh, his face tilting up toward the sky. "Look. I get it. I get that you had good intentions and were trying to help. And I can appreciate the thought, I really can. Still… I don't think I exactly wanted help. Not in this."

  Kaitlyn didn't respond. She followed his gaze upward, where stars glittered amid the dark expanse of night. Their lights seemed to twinkle mirthfully, as though to laugh at her current situation.

  Well, that didn't go how I hoped it would.

  Her plan, poorly conceived as it seemed in hindsight, had backfired spectacularly. It was all but certain now that a bad ending was coming her way.

  It's not all bad, though. I mean, I needed to get it anyway, right?

  It was a small consolation that she allowed herself. After a brief round of farewells, Elliot eventually excused himself and headed back inside, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

  It'll be fine. The damage is done. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't undo this now. So… all that's left is to let it happen and wait things out.

  With only a few weeks left in the loop, there wouldn't be enough time to completely salvage the route, even if she knew how to go about it. And that meant it was time to simply see how things went.

  The past loop replayed through her mind as she cataloged successes and failures for next time. After her thoughts began to spiral in circles too repetitive to be useful, she decided she'd had enough for one night. The evening's chill reminded her that there was a perfectly warm house right there in front of her. A house with other people to talk to and distract herself with.

  As she ascended the short set of porch stairs, Kaitlyn spotted a small group of partygoers gathered near the railing. They all had drinks in hand, their ruddy faces crinkled in laughter and dazed amusement. Among them, she spotted a familiar head of slicked-back blonde, recognizable even from behind.

  After a moment of thought, she shook her head. Nah. He looks like he's busy. Besides, it's not like I really know him. And I don't have the excuse that I'm too drunk to care about that.

  Turning away from the group, she headed for the door. The sounds of dull bass and shouted conversations leaked out from behind the thin piece of wood. Pulling it open, she stepped into the party once more.

  …All I can do is learn from this and do better next time. Whatever that looks like.

  ***

  The rest of the loop passed in a flash. Kaitlyn continued on with her normal routine—work, lab, and cooking for Kate's Kitchen gave her more than enough to keep her busy all on their own, and she soon found that morning cross country practices served as an important time for her to take a mental break. It was strange to think about, but considering how much running had helped her so far, it only further cemented the importance of the activity in her mind.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  She briefly considered deleting the Dream Lizards fan page, but ultimately decided against it. It wasn't just that the effort would feel futile, since the damage had already been done. There was also a risk that it would derail her from the bad ending somehow.

  I've already come this far… I might as well make sure I get the thing. Even though I'm sure Elliot won't appreciate me posting more.

  She didn't completely give up, though. Spending as much time as she could with both him and Esme seemed like an excellent opportunity to see what else had changed. However, Elliot suddenly became a lot more busy and had far less time for study sessions or lab. Given their conversation, she'd somewhat expected it. But seeing it happen was still another matter. On the bright side, she did get to spend a lot more time one-on-one with Esme. It was an unexpected boon in an otherwise suboptimal situation.

  As the reset approached, though, Kaitlyn realized that there was one other thing she wanted to accomplish this loop—something she'd put out of her mind for far too long. Which was how she found herself sitting in front of her laptop, one monitor displaying a black screen with the John Avenue Capital logo emblazoned across the background.

  When you are ready to begin the assessment, simply press "start." The assessment can be resumed at any point by accessing this page and logging in to your account.

  She maneuvered her mouse over to the start button. I might as well look into this now. It's late enough that nothing's going to come of it, anyway, but I am curious what these problems look like. And if the link still works next time around…

  But that was getting ahead of herself. Likely, whatever test they'd devised wouldn't be anything she could confidently solve. This was all just for curiosity's sake.

  As she clicked the button, the screen changed. New lines of white text replaced the previous ones and detailed the first problem. A timer also appeared in the top right corner, counting down from seventy-two hours.

  Kaitlyn frowned at the question as she read through it. This… seems easy. TOO easy. Or… she read over the problem one more time, paying particular attention to the constraints. Ah. I see. They're trying to be a little tricky, aren't they?

  She leaned back in her chair, foot tapping in thought. The more she thought about it, the more nuances and pitfalls she found hiding in the deceptively simple problem. It made her appreciate just how interesting it actually was. After turning it over in her head a few times, she suddenly sat forward.

  What if I…

  Her fingers flew across the keyboard, working up the beginnings of a solution. As the evening darkened into night, she let all of her concerns about endings and the coming loops fall away as she lost herself in the puzzle.

  ***

  Cycle 41 Complete!

  New Ending Unlocked!

  Ending: By the Root

  Total Endings Unlocked: 13

  ***

  Sunlight peeked through from behind Kaitlyn's closed eyelids. A moment of panic sent her shooting up in bed, her heart racing as her eyes flew open. But as her sleep-addled brain caught up with reality, she let out a long breath of relief.

  It's ok. I'M ok. She wiggled her fingers and toes experimentally, finding them just as mobile as always. I didn't do anything bad this time. Of course I wouldn't be paralyzed again. I'm… everything's ok.

  She slowly released the blankets that had been clenched in her fists, taking deep breaths as her pulse returned to normal. Once she'd talked herself down from a potential panic attack, Kaitlyn finally allowed herself to check her Progress Report. Just as expected, the new ending she'd received—By the Root—occupied the space indicating Elliot's bad route.

  I guess that makes sense. I mean, he'd been pretty set up going in a direction that he was happy with, and I… well, I kind of stepped in and messed that up. So I guess I kind of did pull him up by the root? Though that wording does seem a bit extreme…

  Even though she'd earned another bad ending, there were definitely upsides, too. She'd learned quite a bit about the guy over the past loop. It was clear now that playing with the band wasn't some secretly repressed passion of his, but rather a genuine hobby that he preferred to keep quiet. She also knew that he legitimately enjoyed biology, to the point that he wanted to pursue a future in it above other options. And between the revelations about Esme and his mom, she even knew more about his family.

  That's great and all, but it still leaves me with a problem—what in the world am I supposed to do with all that?

  Her expression turned to a frown. That was a harder question to answer. The guy had a plan and was well on his way to delivering on it. Because of that, there didn't seem to be any obvious thing he really needed. Not that the guy was perfect—he clearly had trust issues and found it difficult to let people in. But none of that seemed to be actively making him unhappy or preventing him from reaching his goals.

  Could he be happier? Yeah, I'm sure. If anything, I'd guess his route might have to do with making him more friends and bringing down those walls. But then, how am I supposed to help with that, exactly? I need some sort of in to even start, and so far, it doesn't seem like I have one. Maybe I need to lean harder into our shared interest in bio…?

  She shook her head, flinging the covers off and swinging her legs out of bed. Whatever the issue was, it wasn't something she needed to solve today. Now that she'd earned another bad ending, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a loop off. That would give her time to think, review what she'd learned, and make a new plan.

  Well… that's assuming I NEED a rest loop. I actually feel pretty ok.

  Kaitlyn probed her emotions as she got dressed for the day. Despite feeling a little guilty about how things had turned out, she was surprised to find she didn't feel that bad. The way things had turned out certainly didn't hit as hard as she'd feared. If anything, that realization made her feel worse than the ending itself did.

  Wow. Maybe I am just getting jaded? Or maybe it's because he still had a lot going for him, even though this was the "bad" ending…

  She shook her head. Regardless, now wasn't the time to worry about that stuff. She'd have plenty of time to sort through her thoughts and feelings in the coming days.

  In the meantime… I might as well look into some other stuff, too.

  After going through her morning routine, she settled in at her desk and pulled out her newly-reset laptop and phone. A quick tap of the Notes app revealed that the link to the John Avenue Capital programming assessment was still there. She'd half expected it to disappear, replaced by some other message from the SysAdmin. The lack of such a thing made her release a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

  Alright. Well. The real question is, will this thing still work?

  She quickly typed it into her laptop. Sure enough, the John Avenue Capital logo emblazoned on a black background filled her screen, white text partially obscuring it.

  Kaitlyn blinked in surprise. Huh. It DID work. That's question one answered, I guess.

  That didn't necessarily mean that she could still apply for the job. Last time, she'd been reached out to directly, but now? Now, she was just some random girl. But it was certainly worth a shot.

  Cracking her knuckles, Kaitlyn started the assessment and began entering in an answer for the first question. She'd made it through the first two challenges last loop, but had run out of time on the third. Since then, she'd given it enough thought that she was fairly confident in completing the whole suite though.

  There's no need to rush. If I put them all in today, then that might look suspicious. But... I'm sure I can get a lot done before Heather shows up, at least.

  With that though, Kaitlyn began setting up the coming loop in earnest.